MY TEN KOBO; AJIMOBI AND THE PASAN PARABLE

There is little nugget of wisdom my father told me about power and its limitations, which I will call the pasan(whip) parable.

It simply states that a whip should be mostly used as a deterrent. Because the moment it is deployed, the child now knows the limitation of its power.

In fact if it is used excessively, the child develops a thick skin and the effect is lost, which will lead to the timeless classic 'ko kiku ju egba lo' ( Nothing will happen beyond the cane).

There must be something at the Government House that pushes most of its occupiers to misbehave, especially when it comes to dealing with the Ibadan Monarchy and its aristocracy.

The late Bola Ige, in a moment of grand delusion, decided to deride his in-laws on his perception about their inability to produce a material fit to be governor, we promptly reacted by putting forward a first class material, and pronto, Bola Ige was out of the Government House.

To ensure that such a situation never occurred again, the Ibadan people ensured a stranglehold on whoever occupies the Government House, until the Obasanjo executed impeachment of Rashidi Ladoja that threw up Alao Akala.

Again, Akala decided to take on the Palace, including his famous declaration that the ibadan people are behind him, and that it was the elites that are the problem.
Needless to say, he lost his bid for re-election.

So, when Isiaka Ajimobi, in an ill advised move, and for obvious political reasons, decided to take on the Ibadan succession template, which is unique to Ibadan in the whole world, which created an empire that was never defeated, a city state that fought wars on five fronts and never lost any. I know something must give.

Nobody is denying that the governor has both the legal and constitutional powers to enforce the laws of the land, but if they send you on an errand as a slave, why not endeavour to deliver it as a freeborn, especially since you're a bona fide Shon of the Shoil?

So the governor issued a 48 hours ultimatum, but quickly look for a way out of the quagmire he created himself by attending a 'peace' meeting, not at Agodi, not at Mapo, but at the home of the Chairman of the Ibadan Elders Council.

The implication is that whatever Eedi was working on the governor, the eleda of his mother cleared it before the ultimatum expires, because that old saying about not sacrificing the offsprings of members of the Oore cult to the Oore diety, would have become untenable.

My Ten Kobo.